


I Demand EVEN MORE than a Montage!

by Rhiannimated



Series: The Royal Romance: a Maxwell and Riley Story [2]
Category: The Royal Romance (Visual Novel)
Genre: Consensual Infidelity, F/M, M/M, Secret Relationships, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-24
Updated: 2018-09-24
Packaged: 2019-07-16 15:25:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16088885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rhiannimated/pseuds/Rhiannimated
Summary: This is a retelling of The Royal Romance Book 2 with a small but significant change: the book STARTS with Maxwell as a Love Interest.  Not only that, he's THE Love Interest, though Liam adds another level of complication to the mix.  He thinks that Riley will make a better queen than Madeleine, even if Riley has an affair while they're married.  Liam would rather be married to her in a platonic relationship than in a relationship devoid of all warmth with Madeleine.  What will Riley choose?  Will she be able to help her friends?  And will she make it to the end of the Engagement Tour without Bertrand killing her, Maxwell, or both of them?  Read on to find out!





	I Demand EVEN MORE than a Montage!

**Author's Note:**

> I plan to NaNoWriMo the rest of this book in November. Hopefully I'll be posting it all in December! Thanks for your patience and sorry for the wait!

Riley Brooks sits on the steps of the grand staircase of the Beaumont Estate, waiting to depart for King Liam and Queen-to-be Madeleine’s Engagement Tour. The Beaumonts' goal is to reintroduce her to the court, clear her name so people know she didn’t have an affair with Tariq, and install her as Liam’s new fiancee and future Queen. The problem with this goal is that Riley is no longer sure she wants to marry Liam or be a queen, even though it would help restore House Beaumont. She wants to help them with all her heart, especially with the way they’ve welcomed her into their family, but this is the rest of her life they’re talking about and she’s not sure she’s ready to settle into such a serious role already. Especially if she’s not in love with Liam, and she doesn’t think she is, nor will she ever be. Her heart belongs to someone else.

Maxwell is sitting next to her, and while he’s always high energy, he seems more fidgety than usual. “Almost time to go,” he says, looking at his phone for the millionth time.

“Yeah, I can’t wait. I really want to know who set me up,” she says. Her face clouds over. “When I get proof of who did this…”

“I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again…you’re kind of scary when you’re mad,” he says with a smile.

She sighs. “I’m just ready to get some answers.” Her stomach churns at the thought of facing the court again.

Maxwell claps her affectionately on the shoulder. “Hey, we’ll figure it all out. We’re going to fight back, kick some ass, and take some names!”

“I know,” she says. This is the most friendly he’s sounded all morning and Riley finds herself relieved. After spending all day and night with him, she expected him to be a bit more affectionate this morning, but he’s been keeping his distance more than usual. Riley knows they SAID yesterday would be their one day, but a large part of her can’t help hoping it would continue. She wishes he’d wrap his arms around her to help settle her nerves. “I guess that’s not all that’s bothering me…” she says, trailing off and looking out into the middle distance.

He nudges her knee with his. “What else is on your mind?”

Riley hesitates, wanting to ask about the change in his demeanor compared to yesterday, but she pivots at the last second. “These past few weeks, I haven’t heard a thing from anyone outside of House Beaumont. I thought I’d at least have talked with Liam. It bothers me.” She frowns. “Have you heard anything from him at all?”

“No,” Maxwell says, scratching the back of his neck. “The last time I talked to him was at the Coronation. It was hard enough just convincing the palace guards to let us go to you, much less get in touch with anyone else.” He looks at his phone again and then back up at Riley. “Besides, I’m sure it’s been crazy for him. The press wanting photos and interviews, the entire court vying for Lady Madeleine’s favor, the nobles congratulating Liam, what have you…”

“Maybe I should try calling him…” she says, pulling out her own phone.

“Heavens, no!” Bertrand says, coming down the stairway. Riley whips around to look at him, and they both stand up. “Do you really think it’s wise to be talking with him or anyone from court?”

Riley glares at him, shoving the phone back in her purse. “Why not?”

Bertrand’s features soften minutely from his usual stern look. “Riley, someone wanted you to fail.”

Her heart thumps heavily at the reminder. “And you think it might be one of them?” she asks, raising a skeptical eyebrow.

“No, but you’d better be extra careful. Anything you say, text, or DO…” he glares at Maxwell, “…may be used against you. Conversations are recorded, texts are intercepted. If it’s written or spoken over phone line, we must assume that it’ll eventually fall into the wrong hands. Ergo, we must keep any electronic communications to a minimum.”

The nervous pit in Riley’s stomach grows to feel like a black hole. “So I shouldn’t talk to my friends?”

Bertrand’s tone changes to thoughtful. “Actually, they’ll probably be very helpful to us. But if you do talk to them, do it all in person. You’ll get your chance later today. Now, let’s all get going!”

Maxwell trails two suitcases behind him while Riley carries her one suitcase and a backpack on her back.

“Why do you have so much stuff, Maxwell? I’m the one with all the fancy ball gowns,” she ribs him.

“Hey, looking this good ain’t easy!” he says in a sassy voice.

“But you literally wear like, one outfit. Black shirt, black pants, black shoes. You can’t possibly have that many outfits in there!”

“How dare you!” he exclaims, looking affronted. “These are DIFFERENT black shirts, pants, and shoes! Some of them are different designers, even!”

Riley laughs at his mock offended tone. “You are too much.”

Bertrand clears his through noisily. “Hurry up, you two! We’ll be late, and it will be shame upon us all!”

“Coming!” Riley replies, picking up speed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hours later, at Madeleine’s estate, Riley is dressed up to the nines in the gown Maxwell picked for the store to send over. It’s royal blue, sleeveless, with a plunging v-neck and a built in petticoat that makes the dress fluff up. It feels like armor against the rest of the world since no one can get too close without encountering her skirt.

“You look stunning,” Maxwell says to her, his eyes wide. His expression says volumes about how he feels about the dress and he sees Riley’s cheeks heat up. “No one’s gonna want to mess with you.” Thoughts of running his hand up her thigh, under those petticoats pass through his mind and he desperately tries to redirect them. “Shall we head out? You look ready.”

The smoldering look in his eye is making her hot in all the right places. Riley clears her throat, trying to ignore how much she wants to push Maxwell up against the wall and kiss the hell out of him. “Believe me, I’m more than ready to clear my name.”

He draws himself up to full height and points in the air. “We won’t rest until justice has been done!”

She looks at him fondly. “Thank you, Maxwell.

He does a pleased little wiggle and offers her his arm. “My lady.”

“M’lord,” she says to him with a silly grin.

Moments later, the doors to the grand hall of Madeleine’s manor are thrown open. Around the room, people gasp and then the whispering begin.

“It’s Lady Riley!” cries Penelope.

Kiara stands next to her and says, “Mon dieu! I can’t believe she’d dare show her face here!”

On the other side of the room, the press take notice of their entrance.

Donnie Brine from CBC lights up. “Lady Riley?”

Ana de Luca from Trend looks shocked. “As fashionable as ever. She hasn’t missed a beat, even in social exile.”

Riley feels her face heating up again at all the attention, but tries to keep a demure smile on her face.

Her hand tightens on Maxwell’s arm, and he grins reassuringly at her. “You’re doing great,” he says.

“Thanks, Maxwell,” she replies, feeling like a simple thanks doesn’t convey even a tenth of how she feels about being on his arm right now. He is her anchor, and she holds on for dear life.

Before they get very far into the hall, a refined older woman with elegant blonde hair comes up to them. “Excuse me. You must be the infamous Lady Riley.”

“That’s right,” Riley says warily.

“How bold of YOU to attend,” she says, her eyes twinkling. “But it’d be a boring party without a little scandal, don’t you think? Welcome to Fydelia.”

“Welcome?” Riley asks. “Then you must be Madeleine’s mother.”

The woman smiles. “That’s right. I suppose the family resemblance must be what gave me away, and hopefully not my age.” She titters a laugh. “My name is Adelaide.”

Riley sweeps into a curtsy. “My Lady. It’s an honor to be here.”

Adelaide gives her a shrewd look. “The press said you were an uncouth American who jilted King Liam. But now that I’ve met you, I’m not sure I believe them.” She turns to Maxwell and Riley feels him stiffen next to her. “Now YOU. I believe everything they say about you.”

“You’re looking lovely as ever, Lady Adelaide,” he says, the picture of a perfect gentleman.

She scowls, swatting him on the arm. “Lord Maxwell Beaumont, you have quite a bit of explaining to do!” A bright smile spreads across her face. “How is it that I’m never invited to any of these Beaumont parties that I’ve heard so much about?”

Maxwell looks shocked. “Must’ve been a terrible oversight on our part!”

Adelaide smirks. “See to it that I’m on the guest list for the next one, if there are any more parties now that you’re more,” she gives them a knowing look, “settled.” She pulls back and regards both of them, a hand on each of their arms. “Don’t the two of you make a darling couple!”

Riley’s heart seizes at the thought of actually being in a relationship with him. “Me and Maxwell, a darling couple?” She chuckles, hoping no one notices that slightly nervous edge. “We do look cute together, don’t we?” Understatement of the year, she thinks.

“We do?” Maxwell asks, sounding alarmed and looking around for Bertrand. “I mean, of course we do!”

His pause makes Riley even more nervous and she wonders what he’s so worried about. “The cutest!” she says, trying to cover for his hesitation and her own awkwardness.

“Just adorable,” Adelaide comments, her voice sounding amused. She lets them go. “Now, you should go pay your respects to Madeleine. Don’t let me keep you any longer.”

Riley feels an anxious pang as she and Maxwell leave Adelaide. She leans in and whispers, “I hope you don’t mind that I played along.”

“Oh! No, of course not,” Maxwell quickly reassures her. “You know I’m always down for whatever.” They share a warm look before Maxwell seems to shake himself out of it. “Now, game faces! It’s time to talk to Madeleine.”

Talking to Madeleine is as awful as ever, and seeing King Liam is a kick in the gut after not seeing him for a few weeks. The look of longing he sends her is extra salt in the wound. He looks as gorgeous as ever, his dark skin complimented by his kingly regalia, giving him an air of stateliness. The urge to discuss everything with him is nearly overwhelming, but of course Madeleine had to get in the way of that.

“We’ve got to be careful around Madeleine right now,” Maxwell tells Riley as Madeleine leads Liam away.

“But there’s so much that Liam and I need to talk about,” Riley frowns, her heart pounding with nerves. She wants to tell him straight away that she’s not in love with him like she thought. The longer they go on without her telling him, the more it will break Liam’s heart when she tells him.

“I know,” Maxwell pats her hand reassuringly. “But it’ll have to wait. Maybe you’ll get a chance to talk to him in private.” He looks around. “Hey, I see Bertrand over by the tables. He must’ve found our seats.”

Once at the table, Riley’s heart sinks lower and lower as she takes in everything they’re up against. Madeleine has all the power, and they have nothing to offer anyone to gain their alliance.

“Now, our main goal is to find Tariq and get his side of the story. Where do you think he stands?” Bertrand asks Riley.

“I think Tariq is a jerk,” Riley says, fuming. “He tried to kiss me in my underwear!”

“What a sleaze,” Maxwell says, looking angrier than Riley’s ever seen him. In his head, he’s imagining slamming his fist into Tariq’s face and then doing a fancy kick spin to send him across the room where he’d detain him for the guards to arrest him for assault.

“Well, no matter how we feel about him, he is the key to all this. We need to find him and get him to make a statement.” Bertrand goes on to detail the research he’s done so far and all Riley hears is that they have no idea where Tariq is and they need to find him.

While he’s going on, she catches Madeleine feeding a bite of lobster to Liam and Riley rolls her eyes. It wouldn’t bother her so much if it looked like Liam was enjoying the attention in the slightest, but he looked like he wanted to be anywhere but there. With all of the blackmailing going on, she hates to think of Liam being forced to be with someone he doesn’t even feel affection for. “Anyone else just lose their appetite?” She looks around and realizes she just interrupted Bertrand’s ramble, and she gives him a sheepish look. “Sorry. I’m not feeling so good. Please excuse me,” she says, bowing out as gracefully as they taught her to be.

Later, Riley hears a knock at her door. She opens it to find Maxwell standing there with a bouquet of two dozen red roses. Her heart trips over itself and she gasps. “Hey, what’s this?” she asks, her eyes bright with the hope that Maxwell’s decided to declare his intentions.

“Special delivery,” Maxwell chirps, holding the bouquet out. “Housekeeping sent over a new centerpiece for your end table.”

Her heart falls when she realizes it’s not from Maxwell, but she takes the bouquet anyway. She buries her nose in the flowers to take in the beautiful aroma and spots a piece of paper wrapped around one of the stems. She carefully pulls it off and reads it:

“I wouldn’t blame you if you’re furious with me,  
but please meet me so I can at least explain.  
I’ll be on the balcony outside my room in twenty minutes.”

“That’s Liam’s handwriting!” Maxwell says. He feels a stab of jealousy in his gut and mentally kicks himself. This is what he WANTS to happen!

Riley thinks about all the things left unsaid between her and the King. “I’ve got to go.”

Suddenly, stopping Riley from seeing Liam seems like the most important thing Maxwell could possibly do. “But, the hallway’s crowded with staff and nobles!” he tries to reason. “Madeleine basically put you in the corner of the estate farthest from Liam.” Maxwell frowns. “He must not have known.”

Riley eyes the window at the side of her room. “There’s more than one way out of here,” she says speculatively.

“No way!” Maxwell exclaims, looking alarmed. While he’d be the first person to suggest going out the window in a normal situation, now he’s tasked with keeping Riley in one piece until her name is cleared. “That’s too dangerous! If you fall, you could really hurt yourself.”

She makes a noise of frustration. “But I can just imagine Liam waiting for me on that balcony.” She just wants to get this conversation out of the way. Her anxiousness to get this over with overwhelms her sense of reason. “I’ll be back before you know it.” Riley opens the window and puts one leg out on the ledge. “Make sure Bertrand’s distracted,” she adds, and then she ducks out the window.

Maxwell watches her go, fretting the whole time. “If she dies, Bertrand will kill me.” He looks around her room and realizes she left the roses on the bed, so he busies himself with finding a vase, filling it with water, and putting it on her end table. “On the upside, if they end up rekindling their love and it leads to them getting married, Bertrand will be thrilled!”

He sits on the chair in the corner, since he has nothing better to do. He thinks back to Riley’s face a few moments ago when he could tell she thought the flowers were from him. He wishes he thought to do something so grand, but they really don’t have the money and he has to keep sending every penny he can to Savannah. He thinks about how he should tell Riley about it…or especially Drake. But Savannah made him promise, and even though keeping secrets is not his forte, he is determined to be a good uncle to baby Bartie, no matter how many people he ends up hurting in the long run.

The thought of hurting any of the people close to him gives him pangs of anxiety, but he has no choice.

He sits, watching the window, and waits.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Riley hoists herself out of the window, climbs up the side of the building, and edges her way around until she swings a leg over the edge of the balcony. “Made it!” she says, dropping down and turning to see King Liam staring off into the distance, deep in thoughts.

When he hears her, he turns. “Riley!” He rushes to her and sweeps her into his arms.

Riley gently pushes him away. “Hey, now, you’re an engaged man, now,” she says, stepping back.

He gives her a pained look. “I know, I’m sorry. I’ve just missed you so much.”

Her lips twitch into a small smile against her will. “I missed you, too.” That much is true, even if she doesn’t think she wants to marry him. “I didn’t think I’d get to see you again.”

“I’d never let that happen,” he says with finality. He goes on to explain that he chose Madeleine to keep Riley safe, since he doesn’t trust the guard to keep her safe. Not when his own mother was assassinated when he was young.

Riley’s heart breaks for this King who’s had to grow up with the knowledge that people hate his family so much they’d go to the lengths of killing his mother to show it. “I understand why you did it, Liam. It’s okay.” She looks away. “Are you going to ask me if it’s true?

“You and Tariq? No. I don't need to ask to know that it was a set up.” He looks completely sure.

Riley gulps. “Th-thank you for believing me,” she says, tripping over her words. She bites her lip to try and hold in her emotions.

“Is something wrong, Lady Riley?” Liam asks, his voice full of concern.

She nods and a tear leaks out her eye. “I have to confess something. Tariq was a set up, but I think maybe I’ve…” she trails off. “Fallen,” she squeaks out, her voice caught in her throat.

Riley watches as his face goes from confusion to sadness and understanding. “You’ve fallen for someone else?” he asks.

She nods again, more tears falling down her face. Seemingly out of nowhere, he materializes a handkerchief and hands it to her, and she takes it gratefully. “I didn’t mean for this to happen,” she says, and then hiccups.

Liam brushes a strand of hair behind her ear. “Lady Riley, if there’s one thing I’ve learned in the past few months is that love doesn’t often pay attention to plans, no matter how well thought out.” He chuckles wryly. “You know, there is a long and varied tradition among both nobles and royalty alike of marrying for political reasons and each participating in a romantic relationship in varying degrees of secrecy. In fact, Madeleine proposed I do that with you, were you willing. I… think we had a connection at some point, and I feel very much that you’d make a better queen than any of the other suitors.” He stops and smiles at her. “You look so shocked, but you’re amazing, Riley. You’ve inspired me so much to be a better version of myself. To have you by my side, even platonically, would be more than I could ever ask for. This may be a bit forward, but may I ask where your feelings for me stand?”

Tears fall freely from Riley’s eyes as she listens to him. “My feelings for you? I feel… friendship the most strongly. I do care for you quite a bit, Liam, but, these feelings for m…this other person were reinforced day after day when I couldn’t see you for over a week at a time. Honestly, I don’t know what would happen if we spent more time together. All I can tell you is this is the state of my heart. I’m in love with someone who…may or may not have feelings for me, and you’re in love with me who has friendly-slash-something extra feelings back.” She sighs, feeling defeated and a little silly now that it’s all out in the open.

“You…don’t know if they have feelings back?” he asks.

She shakes her head. “They have some sort of feelings, but they’re not easily defined.”

“I see.” He strokes a hand over the stubble of his 5 O’clock shadow. He stands at full attention. “Riley, I want you to know this. No matter what happens, I will do everything in my power to clear your name. If you want, I will continue to court you in secret. We can have our secret rendezvous, platonic or romantic depending on your feelings, and we can get to know each other better. Perhaps we will find a way to be together once your name is cleared. If things escalate with the person you love, I promise I will not be possessive or jealous one way or the other. As I’ve said, even spending time with you as friends means more to me than I can possibly express.”

Riley sighs. “What makes this hard is he definitely wants me to pursue a relationship with you.”

The tiniest quirk of his eyebrow gives away that he’s processing this information. “But what do you want, Lady Riley?” he asks, finally.

She stands in front of the King of Cordonia who is handing her his heart on a plate feeling completely torn. In the face of King Liam’s passion and smoldering eyes, the past couple of weeks with Maxwell feel like a silly romp on Spring break in college. Liam’s eyes hold so much promise…but also so much responsibility. Riley takes a deep breath. “I do enjoy spending time with you, Liam,” she says finally. “Whether we’re doing something romantic or stealing a few moments here and there, I enjoy making you laugh and feel more relaxed. So, for that, I agree to continue seeing you in secret. But, I think we should cut down on the physical side of this relationship. The night of the coronation, I felt way too swept up in the Fairy Tale Princess story.”

“Did I coerce you into something you didn’t want?” he asks, sounding horrified.

“No!” she says, putting a hand on his arm. “I wanted you that night. Badly.” She squeezes his arm and gulps. “And kind of right now, too. But that’s what I mean, I lose all sense when we get close like this and I can’t tell if I’m making a sane choice.” Riley pulls away and looks out over the balcony railing. “I mean, after all I’ve been through, with the other ladies doing everything they can to sabotage me, being scrutinized by the press and everyone else, and someone blackmailing me, do I really want my life to be in the constant spotlight as Queen?”

“Ah, I see,” Liam says, looking as solemn as ever. “It is a lot of work, and there are a lot of sacrifices that most people don’t realize come with the crown. I’m sure it must seem daunting from where you’re standing. But for what it’s worth, if there’s anyone who can take on the responsibilities of the crown and still be true to themselves, I believe it’s you, Riley.”

As per usual, Riley can’t help but smile at Liam’s kind words. “The things you say sometimes, Liam,” she says with a chuckle.

He smirks. “I’m trying to be irresistible. Is it working?”

Riley swats his arm and laughs. “Look at you being playful and teasing.”

“It’s something about you, Riley, that brings out this side of me. I haven’t felt this carefree since I was a teenager.” His smile turns wistful. Then he frowns. “It’s getting late.”

“Yeah, I should head back before someone discovers I’m not where I’m supposed to be,” Riley says, feeling guilty for leaving Maxwell waiting for so long.

“Thank you for coming, Lady Riley,” he says, kissing her hand and bowing to her.

“It was my pleasure, Your Majesty,” she says with a wink and a curtsy. She looks dubiously over the balcony railing, the way back looking a lot more daunting than the way here.

“You can leave through the door,” Liam chuckles. “I’ll make sure the coast is clear.”

“Thank you,” she says, feeling relieved. “For everything.”

“It’s my pleasure.” He looks out the door and motions for her to go.

She sneaks out and immediately starts striding to her room as if she has every right to be exactly where she is.

  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Riley’s bedroom door opens and startles Maxwell, whose eyes had been glued to the window (almost) the whole time he waited. “You’re back!”

“I am,” she says. “And I had a long chat with Liam.”

“Oh?” Maxwell asks, trying not to sound too nosy, but also dying to know what they talked about.

“Can you help me undo this clasp?” she asks, turning around. For once, there’s not a hint of flirtation in her voice.

He springs up from the chair and rushes to help her, nearly tripping, but recovering with a twirl.

With her dress undone, she opens her bureau and begins to narrate the conversation to Maxwell as she unceremoniously drops the dress to the ground. “This is basically where we’re at: He loves me, I like him a lot, but I love someone else, even though I don’t know how they feel about me exactly.” She pulls her nightgown over her head and fails to notice Maxwell’s jaw hanging open. “Liam suggested we keep meeting in secret either as friends or lovers, whichever way it develops in case the ‘person I love’ isn’t interested in me in that way.” She hangs the dress up and turns to him. “He thinks I would make a better queen than Madeleine even if I’m not in love him.” She strides over to her bed and pulls the covers back, then looks back up.

Maxwell shakes his head, trying to make sense of all that he’s hearing. “That’s…good. Right?”

Riley rolls her eyes and crawls into bed. “Honestly, I’m not sure yet and I’m too tired to think. This all seems like having my cake and eating it, too, which I find HIGHLY suspect. But, I’ll think about it more in the morning. You should think about it, too.” She hunkers down into the bed. “Wanna snuggle?” she asks, almost as an afterthought.

He shakes his head again. “No, that’s not a good idea. I hope you sleep well, Riley,” he says, backing out of the door. “Goodnight.” He shuts off the light and leaves the room, shutting the door securely. Since he has a key to her room, she also hears the lock slide into place, making her feel a bit safer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning, Riley is woken by the sound of someone knocking on her door. “Okay, okay! Maxwell, I'm coming, no need to break down the door,” she says, rushing out of bed and throwing the door open. She’s expecting to see her Human Alarm Clock, and is shocked by who is waiting there. “What? I thought you were gone!"


End file.
